Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. It’s rewind week for TTT, and I decided to modify the first every TTT (Top Ten Childhood Favorites) to my favorite children’s books now. I’m a children’s librarian, so I read hundred of kid’s books every year, so I want to list some of my favorites. Some are classics, some award winners, and some new additions to children’s literature.

1. Mo Willems! Okay, so he is an author, not a book, but he has created some of the most wonderful children’s picture books and readers! Series include Elephant and Piggie, the Pigeon books, Knuffle Bunny, and standalones like Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct, and Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs. You do not have to be a child to enjoy Mo Willems genius.
2. Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester. This is such a crowd pleaser picture book. Tacky is an odd bird, but a nice bird to have around. 🙂
3. Bark, George by Jules Feiffer. Another wonderful picture book. And there is a dog in this one!

4. Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. This one is so much fun to read aloud.
5. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. First picture book to win the Caldecott with an African American MC. But what I really love about this book is that it shows an African American boy doing activities that ALL boys (and girls do). Kids can completely relate to this book.
6. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. This one was actually a childhood favorite of mine, and it still is a favorite now. I love that the text and illustrations are blue!

7. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. Definitely one of the best fractured fairytales out there!
8. There’s an Alligator Under My Bed/There’s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer. Anyone remember these ones? I love the illustrations, and they are wonderful story time books.

9. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Love this one! You all remember this one right?
10. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Best picture book ever? You betcha. Who doesn’t remember this book from childhood?

What are your favorite children’s books?

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About Quinn

I'm a twenty-something children's librarian at a public library in Central New York. I've long left my teen years behind me, but I love to read YA and children's books.
I have two adorable dogs. Ginger is a mix between a poodle and havanese, and Daphne is Bichon Frise.
Other things I love:
Favorite Movie: Singing in the Rain
Favorite Book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Favorite TV Show: Monk

40 Responses to Top Ten Children’s Picture Books

I haven’t read any of these as a kid, mostly because we had enough children’s books in my own language so i never read any translations. I wish I read Where the Wild Things Are though. I shall do it next year 🙂

Oh, so thrilled to see Blueberries for Sal on your list!! I remember when I was in my thirties going to the library and describing this book to a librarian: “there’s a momma bear and a baby bear and blue berries, I want to get this book for my kids because I loved it when I was a kid, but what’s it called?” (nowadays I find a lot of half-forgotten books just by googling).

I’ll have to check out Mo Willems for my kiddos and some of these others.

Fun topic – I love picture books. I read a bunch of these with my daughter like The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and There’s a Nightmare in My Closet. And I think I probably still have Goodnight Moon memorized 🙂
Thanks for sharing these great picks!

Two of my favorites are If you GIve a Mouse a Cookie (and that series) and There’s a Monster at the End of this Book. You have some great choices here, I especially liked the True Story of the Three Little Pigs!

LOVE your list!! The Elephant and Piggie books are so funny and cute, my son loves them!! Goodnight Moon is an awesome classic… have you ever read Goodnight Goon, it’s a halloween spoof of GM and I think it’s cute! I am definitely obsessed with How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Harry the Dirty Dog, and Little Blue Truck!!

I love One Morning in Maine and The True Story, they were two if my favorites when I was younger. My children’s contemporary favorites are anything by Peter Brown (particularly The Curious Garden and Chowder) or Chris Van Allsburg (Jumanji and Zathura). They also love older classics like Katy and the Big Snow. Great list.

I love your list! Where The Wild Things Are is one of my childhood favorites. I haven’t thought about The True Story Of The 3 Little Pigs in forever. Now I want to revisit some of my childhood favorites!

This is a great list (with perfect timing for me– I’m pregnant and just starting to think about starting a book collection for my little one)! I remember quite a few from my childhood, but had forgotten them– like Blueberries for Sal, it looks so familiar, so I must have read it a time or two! Thanks for sharing!